I am in the process of building a my first shack. I plan to do a lot of CW and in planning the design of the desk, I wonder if any of you that do a lot of CW have any particular preferences as to where your key is located within your station(height off ground, use of the existing desk top surface or the use of an extension of the desk top at a different height, etc). I will be starting out with a straight key if this makes a difference. What is the best setup that allows one to enjoy CW the most? Or is this a trial and error thing I will have to experiment with. Any suggestions?

Everybody finds out the same thing: The place for the key is at the height your elbow falls if you let your arm drop when you're seated in a chair. That height varies with the height of the person and the chair adjustment, but it averages 28 to 30", which is why that's how "high" desks are.

The place the key needs to be is back towards the rear of the desktop, at least by the distance between your fingertips and your elbow. Again, that varies with the person. For me, it's about 19". For somebody very tall, it would be more.

The reason the key needs to be that far back is so that when you send code, your entire forearm can rest on the desk, including your elbow, and your arm will naturally "fall" across the desk to where the key is located. That's the most comfortable sending position, and the one virtually everyone wants to use.

It's very difficult to send code on a desk that's too "shallow" front-to-rear, or with a key that's located too close to your body.

Assuming you are going to use your right hand to send code, the best place for your key is directly in front of your LEFT shoulder. Six or eight inches back from the front edge of your operating desk and the left edge of your key should be facing the front of the desk. Your right elbow and forearm should rest on the desktop and the key will be at your right fingertips.A picture would be worth a thousand words!George Allgood, W4GFA

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